Living long and living well: Tax systems and population ageing

The success of the development project of the 20th century relied on economic growth to lift incomes, and on a tax-and-welfare state to share the wealth. It also relied fundamentally on an unequal and gendered care economy, primarily focused on care of children, in which women bore much of the cost of care. Today, economic and demographic conditions are increasingly unlike conditions of the mid-20th century. Population ageing increases care needs, but also contributes to higher wealth inequality and slower economic growth. Most governments have failed to address the tensions in the gendered distribution of work, care, and wealth. Tax and welfare policies must adjust in the context of these changing conditions to enable a more equal distribution of the cost of care and economic returns, so that we can live long and well in the next 100 years.